Road form



MERE? y 8, 1957 J. H. YEARLING 2,793,416

ROAD FORM Filed July 6, 1954 27 I9 24 I9 29 i 30:: a? g 28 26 22 2 3 32 INVENTOR. \JOSEFH H. YEARLING FUEL II BY I A T TORNEYS United States PatentO ROAD FORM Joseph H. Yearling, Columbus, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to New Cumberland Metal Products, Division of The Matthew Phillips Company, New Cumberland, W. Va., a corporation of West Virginia Application July 6, 1954, Serial No. 441,228

1 Claim. (Cl. 25-418) My invention relates to a road form. It has to do, more particularly, with a road form or rail of the type which is not only used as a form for the road material but also to support the heavy equipment used in forming the road pavement.

Road forms of this general nature are commonly in use and consist of sections which have their adjacent ends connected together in a suitable manner. The connections between the adjacent sections must be such that smooth joints are provided .to provide a smooth track for the road machinery and to form smooth surfaces on the edge of the road material. members at these joints must not only be of such a nature that they will rigidly and evenly connect the sections together but also must be of such a nature that the sections can be separated easily since the sections are removed from the formed road and are used again. Thus, the connections at the joints must be such that the sections may be connected and disconnected repeatedly without damage to the ends of the sections or the members used to connect them together. These road form However, the connecting.

sections are positioned along the roadway by means of metal stakes and suitable stake pockets must be provided on the form to cooperate with these metal stakes.

It is the main object of my invention to provide a road form with a novel connecting arrangement for the adjacent ends-of road form sections, this arrangement being Figure 1 is a perspective view of a road form section made in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the connecting mem ber used in connecting adjacent sections, showing the outer face thereof.

Figure 3 is a similar view but showing the inner face of the connecting member.

Figure 4 is an elevational view taken from the outer side of the road form sections and illustrating how the connecting member is used in connecting adjacent sections.

Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 3 but showing :1 modification of the connecting or locking member.

With reference to the drawing, in Figure 1 I have illustrated a road form section which is shaped from plate steel of suitable gauge. This form section comprises a horizontal base flange 11, a face flange 12 which is vertically disposed and a top rail or tread portion 13.

At suitable intervals along the form section 10, stake pockets 14 are provided. Preferably three in number, these stake pockets are of a box type being formed of inverted U-shape members which are welded to both the ice flanges 11 and the flanges 12 for rigidly bracing such flanges. The upper wall of each of these stake pockets is provided with an opening which aligns with a corresponding opening in the flange 11 and through which the stakes 15 may be passed in securing the form section in position along the edge of the roadway. The vertical walls of these stake pockets are provided with aligning transverse slots which are offset laterally relative to the stake openings and which are designed to receive the wedges 16. These wedges cooperate with one side only of the stakes so that they will not loosen but the wedges of alternate stake pockets cooperate with opposite sides of the stakes as indicated in Figure 1. The wedges 16 are locked in place, it being noted that one end of each wedge 16 is slit transversely and bent upwardly at 17 to prevent withdrawal from the slots in the stake pockets 14. Thus, the wedges cannot be lost. The box-like structure of the stake pockets prevents concrete or other road building material from dropping thereinto. It will also be noted that each stake pocket is provided with an integral upstanding ear 18 which is welded inside the downturned lip 19 of the tread portion 13. This will increase the rigidity of the tread portion.

Each section at one end is provided with a locking bracket 20 which is welded to the upper surface of the base flange 11 and which is provided with an opening 21 for use as an auxiliary stake pocket. This bracket is provided with an upstanding lug. 22 at its inner end which is notched at 23 for a purpose to be described later. The other end of the form section is provided with a bracket 20asimilar to the bracket 20 but which does not have the high upstanding notched lug.

The connecting member or lock plate 24 which I provide for connecting the adjacent sections of the form is adapted to telescope within the ends of the adjacent sections and to cooperate with the tread portions 13 and the brackets 20.

This member 24 is formed from a steel plate and comprises the vertical body portion 25 which has the inturned flanges 26 and 27 at its upper and lower edges which have the upwardly and downwardly turned lips 28 and 29. respectively. Welded into the pockets formed in the flanges 26 and 27 and at each end of the lock plate 24 are the stiffening bars 30. Extending for the full length of the body portion 25 of the member 24 is an outwardly extending heavy V-rib 31. This rib not only stiffens the plate longitudinally but provides easy-to-hit hammering surfaces at the ends of the plate which will adequately take the pounding of sledge hammers used in forcing the locking plate into telescoping relationship with the adjacent ends of the road form sections. The stiffening bars 30 not only prevent spreading or contraction of the flanges 26 and 27 but also will increase this hammering surface. Instead of bars 30, a single plate 30a may be used as shown in Figure 5. Below the rib 31 adjacent each end of the body 25, stop teats 32 are provided for contacting the upstanding lug 22 of bracket 20.

It will be apparent that in using this connecting member 24 for connecting the adjacent sections of the road form, one of these members will first be positioned in one end of a section 10. Obviously, the member 24 will tightly fit within the road form between the tread portion 13 and the base flange 11. The lip 19 on the tread portion 13 and the upstanding lug 22 on the bracket 20, which are in the same vertical plane, will engage the outer surfaces of the connecting member while its inner surfaces will be engaged by the upstanding flange 12. The member 24 will be driven into telescoping relationship within the section 10 by means of a hammer which can engage the outer end of the V-rib 31 and the outer bar 30. Member 24 will be positioned before the bracket 20 is welded in place. Next, the adjacent end of another section is properly positioned with respect to the extending end of the member 24 and such member is forced in the end thereof, The stop teats 32 will contact the lug 22 to limit movement of the member 24 in both directions. Notch 23 will permit driving of member 24 completely within the form section before the outer teat contacts the lug 22. This will permit separation of two form sections without moving one longitudinally relative to the other.

The connecting member 24 is of rigid construction and will not spread or contract in a vertical direction due to the provision of the bars 30 or plate 39a. It will not bend longitudinally of itself due to the provision of the rib 31. Since the rib 31 will project outwardly to a considerable extent, it will provide ample pounding surface, which will not readily become battered, for sledge hammers used in forcing the connecting member into the form sections in assembling them, or forcing it from the sections in disassembling them. Furthermore, this surface used for hammering is increased and strengthened by the bars 30 or plate 30a. Of most importance is the fact that the two welded-in vertical bars 30, at each end section of the lock, or the ends of plate 30a, offer positive support to the rail 10 at the connecting points or parts of the sections over which heavy machines with vibrators ride and, therefore, lessen the tendency for the rail 10 to distort, break or broom at the edges or ends of the road form sections. The entire locking plate offers substantial support to the outer lip 19 of the rail preventing distortion or bending of this lip.

It will be noted that the stake pocket 14 closest to the end of the road form section has the wedge 16 reversed to facilitate pounding on the inner end of the locking member 24 when the sections are to be disassembled. The stake in the middle pocket will be wedged on the inside while the stakes in the end pockets will be wedged on the outside for greater rigidity. The welding of the pockets to the flanges 11 and 12 and to the lip 19 provides maximum rigidity for the form and permits mechanical stripping devices to be safely attached to the pockets without causing loosening thereof.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have provided a road form section and connecting arrangement having many novel structural features. Some of these features have been discussed above and others will be apparent.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

In combination with a road form section having a horizontal lower flange, an upstanding vertical flange and a rail on the upper end of the vertical flange extending from the vertical flange in the same direction as the lower flange and having a depending lip on its outer edge, an upstanding locking bracket on the lower flange spaced from the vertical flange so that it is located substantially in the same vertical plane as said lip, a connecting member for telescoping with adjacent sections of the form to lock them together, said connecting member comprising a plate having flanges at its upper and lower edges which have lips projecting towards each other, a reinforcing bar extending vertically between said flanges at each end of said plate and having its ends within said lips being welded in such position, said plate having a V-shape reinforcing rib extending the length thereof and projecting in a direction opposite the said upper and lower edges, said rib being formed midway between the height thereof, said connecting member telescoping within the adjacent form section so that the rib is on the outer side away from the vertical flange of the form section, said connecting member being disposed between the rail and the lower flange of the form section which will serve to align it vertically and between the vertical flange of the form section at one side and the depending lip on the rail and the said upstanding bracket on the other side which serves to align said connecting member laterally, said plate having projecting stops below said V-rib and adjacent its ends for contacting the upstanding bracket to limit longitudinal movement of the connecting member relative to the form section, the outermost stop portion and the said upstanding bracket being arranged to permit movement of the connecting member completely within the form section.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,533,960 Wells Apr. 14, 1925 1,690,295 Heltzel Nov. 6, 1928 1,839,286 Wolf Jan. 5, 1932 1,842,549 Harrold Jan. 26, 19 32 1,878,846 Harrold Sept. 20, 1932 1,918,710 Mosel et al July 18, 1933 2,550,525 Braun Apr. 24, 1951 

